Acts 18:24-28 “Disciple Like Priscilla & Aquila”

1:09And in the first two weeks, we were encouraged to exhort like Barnabas and then to evangelize like Paul. This morning, we're going to be encouraged to disciple like Priscilla and Aquila. And we need that encouragement because many professing Christians. Are not discipling anyone. And they never have. I want you to take a look at what we know as the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28. And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

1:50Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Many Christians know the Great Commission, but they seem to understand it incorrectly. What Jesus commands is go therefore and make disciples. But what many Christians seem to understand it to say is go therefore and be disciples.

2:39Of course, we must be disciples in order to make disciples. You cannot show someone else the way unless you are on the way or unless you know the way. So we must be disciples in order to make disciples. But again, Jesus' command is not go therefore and Be disciples. His command is: go therefore and make disciples. But from what I've seen over the past couple of decades, many professing Christians aren't doing that. We are not making disciples.

3:16And I think that the primary reason we're not making disciples is because no one ever discipled us. If I were to ask right now, how many of you had a more mature Christian pour into you with the intention of helping you to know how to follow Jesus? My guess from my experience would be that there would be very few hands raised in this room. So, my hope this morning is that God would use Priscilla and Aquila, their example, to give us a vision for discipling, and that this sermon would spur us on, whether that means continuing what you've been doing for years in making disciples, or whether that means getting started and making disciples for the very first time.

4:08Last week, Pastor Cody preached the end of Acts chapter 17, where Paul proclaimed the good news to the city of Athens. And I'm going to pick up right where he left off in Acts 18:1 through 4. Take a look at the screen. Luke says, After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. A Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome.

4:41And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked, for they were tent makers by trade. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. So when Paul got to Corinth, right away he met this couple who fled Rome because Emperor Claudius kicked them out. They were Jewish tent makers just like Paul, so they became fast friends. And it's impossible for us to know whether Priscilla and Aquila were already believers in Jesus when they met Paul, but if they weren't, they obviously became believers through his ministry. So they end up ministering together in Corinth for about 18 months, and then they travel together to Syria and then to Ephesus.

5:36And Paul leaves Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus while he travels onward to Caesarea. And that sets up our text for this morning, where we're going to be encouraged to disciple like Priscilla and Aquila. And what we're going to see in the text this morning are three keys to faithful discipling. We're going to see the Profile of a faithful disciple, a picture of faithful discipling, and the product of faithful discipling. So let's start with a profile of a faithful disciple in verse 24. Pick up there with me.

6:19It says, Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the scriptures. Luke informs us that Apollos is a Jewish man from Alexandria. That's the second largest city in the Roman Empire, an intellectual center with a world-renowned library. Alexandria was no ordinary city, and Apollos was no ordinary man. Luke describes him as eloquent and competent in the scriptures. In other words, Apollos was a well-educated, impressive orator.

6:59He knew his Bible, and he knew how to get his point across. Verse 25. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. Now, thankfully, our understanding of the rest of the passage does not ride on this particular verse because Luke's meaning is unclear. What does he mean when he says that Apollos had been instructed in the way of the Lord, but he knew only the baptism of John?

7:43Perhaps what he's saying is that thanks to John, Apollos knew that Jesus was the Christ, but he knew nothing of his death and resurrection or about the Holy Spirit. Or maybe Luke is saying that Apollos did know about Jesus' death and resurrection, but because he had left Jerusalem, perhaps prior to Pentecost, he didn't know about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I'm more persuaded by that second explanation because it's hard to understand how Luke could say that Apollos had been instructed in the way of the Lord and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus if he didn't know about Jesus' death and resurrection.

8:29But the bottom line is this: Apollos was preaching the truth about Jesus insofar as he knew it. His understanding isn't wrong, but it is incomplete. So what Apollos needs is someone to disciple him. And he fits the profile of a faithful disciple. Faithful disciples are enthusiastic. Dependable and teachable. Enthusiastic, dependable, and teachable. First, faithful disciples are enthusiastic. Apollos is so excited to tell others about Jesus that he travels across the Mediterranean Sea from Alexandria in Egypt to Ephesus in modern-day Turkey, another intellectual center with a famous library. In verse 27, later in the passage, we see that he wished to cross over from Ephesus into Achaea, across the Aegean Sea, all the way to the cities of Athens and Corinth, to be of use to the young churches there.

9:43And in verse 25, the verse that we just read, we saw that Luke describes him as fervent in spirit. That Greek word means something like intensely passionate. It means literally to boil in the spirit. So Apollos was passionate about Jesus, and his passion, his enthusiasm, was evident to everyone. So, friends, enthusiasm is the first mark of a faithful disciple. It is a simple fact of life that we just do not give our best energy or attention to things that we are not enthusiastic about.

10:27You might do them because you think you have to. Or you think you should, but you're not going to give your best energy, your best attention to anything that you're not enthusiastic about. You're not going to go above and beyond. You're going to do what is required and no more. And I think we would agree that that accurately describes many professing Christians that we know. The Christian life to them is about have-tos instead of get-tos. So they would say, I have to go to worship. I have to read my Bible and pray. I have to give. I have to serve. It's about have-tos.

11:13But an enthusiastic disciple doesn't look at the Christian life as a series of have-tos, but as a series of get-tos. We get to worship the Lord on Sunday with our brothers and sisters. We get to read our Bibles and pray. We get to serve. We get to give. These things are the joyful privilege of those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. And so if you're looking for a fellow believer to disciple, he or she should be marked by enthusiasm for God and the things of God. Faithful disciples are enthusiastic.

11:52Second, faithful disciples are dependable. Nobody is born with innate. Knowledge of the Bible. You have to work to become competent in the scriptures. And Apollos put in that work. Now, in God's providence, Apollos was from Alexandria, and he had a world-renowned library in his backyard. A library that would have had one or more copies of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament that had been produced right there in that city some 200 years earlier. He had access to that.

12:36But he didn't take that for granted. Apollos poured himself into learning the scriptures until he was competent in them and he could teach them accurately. He was dependable. Brothers and sisters, some believers are enthusiastic, but they are not dependable. They don't study the word like they should. They don't show up when you expect them to. You simply cannot count on them. And because you can't count on them, they are not a wise investment. Every person in this room, from the objectively busiest to the objectively least busy, has limited time, energy, and resources.

13:30And because that's true, we have to be very careful about how we invest our limited time, energy, and resources. Apollos was dependable as well as enthusiastic. And that's the second mark of a faithful disciple. They're dependable. Third, faithful disciples are teachable. In the next verse, verse 26, Priscilla and Aquila pull Apollos aside to explain the way of God more accurately to him. And Luke clearly implies that Apollos listened and applied what they taught him. Now, Apollos could have rejected their help.

14:18He might have said, Who are you? What right do you have to teach me anything? You see all these people? They're coming to hear me teach. Why should I listen to you? But that would have been very foolish. Priscilla and Aquila were discipled by the Apostle Paul. They had much to teach. They had a fruitful ministry for years right alongside the Apostle Paul, so rejecting their help would have been very foolish. Thankfully, though, Apollos doesn't do that. He humbly listens to them, and he made changes to his teaching based on. What they shared. Apollos was teachable.

15:05Friends, some believers are enthusiastic about Jesus and they're also dependable, but they aren't teachable. They're unwilling to humbly listen and accept correction concerning what they believe or their lifestyle or the choices that they're making. I want to remind you of Proverbs 18:2. Take a look at the screen. A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. Sadly, I've attempted to disciple many people over the years who fit this description. They were enthusiastic. They were excited about Jesus and the things of God. They were dependable. They never missed the meeting with me.

15:59But they weren't teachable. And when I sought to bring correction to their beliefs or their lifestyle or some of the choices that they were making, they were unwilling to listen. Faithful disciples are teachable. In Apollos, we've seen the profile of a faithful disciple. Enthusiastic, dependable, and teachable. Now let's take a look at a picture of faithful discipling with Priscilla and Aquila. Let's pick up in verse 26. Apollos began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

16:47In this verse, Apollos' enthusiasm and dependability and teachability are all on display. But the focus of this verse is really on the two disciplers, Priscilla and Aquila. And I want to share a few observations with you before we move into this picture of faithful discipling. The first thing I want you to note is that Priscilla and Aquila were discipled by Paul. So it should come as no surprise to us that they disciple others in the exact same way that they were discipled.

17:23Where are they in this moment? In the synagogue, the very place where Paul first went in every city that had one because he was seeking to build bridges with people who shared his background and his context. So Priscilla and Aquila, they know what to do because they've been discipled by Paul. They go to the synagogue and they're looking for people who are open to hearing the message about Jesus. The second thing I want you to note is that Priscilla and Aquila ministered together.

18:00Because many of us are familiar with Titus 2 and the commands for older men to teach younger men and older women to teach younger women, a lot of us don't really have much of a category for husbands and wives ministering side by side. And what that means is that husbands and wives who are already stretched by the demands of work and home life and raising children think that they have to be apart in order to faithfully disciple, requiring more nights, more weekend time, more mornings apart from one another and the family. But friends, that's not the case.

18:42We understand that scripture teaches that God has created men and women to be complements to one another. And since that is true, we should expect that many times and in many cases, our discipleship is going to be more robust, more nuanced, and more helpful when men and women disciple side by side. And so I want you to consider that, particularly if you're married. And then, third, I want you to observe Priscilla's prominent place in ministry. Whenever these two are named in Scripture, they are always named together, and almost every single time, Priscilla is listed. First, I think that's significant.

19:36Just because wives are to submit to their own husbands in everything, according to New Testament teaching, does not mean that husbands understand the Bible's teaching better than their wives, nor does it mean that husbands are better at articulating that teaching to others. And it very well may be the case that in Priscilla and Aquila's relationship, she understood the scriptures better and was better at articulating them than her husband was. And perhaps that's one of the reasons they ministered together, because they made a great team. And so, ladies, I want you to be encouraged by the fact that Paul discipled both Priscilla and Aquila, that these two ministered side by side, and she enjoyed a prominent place in ministry.

20:28Having noted those truths, they give us a picture of faithful discipling. Faithful discipling is patient, gentle, and truthful. Faithful discipling is patient, gentle, and truthful. First, faithful discipling is patient. As Priscilla and Aquila sat listening to Apollos, I imagine them glancing at one another, exchanging a little grin, because they can see. That this man is enthusiastic and dependable, but also that he does not have the full story. The question is: will he be teachable? But I want you to remember that they waited until after his sermon was over before taking him aside and explaining the way of God more accurately. They didn't jump up in the middle of the service and correct him on the spot, they were patient with him.

21:31Brothers and sisters, when we disciple others, we must do so with patience. I want you to think about where you are today as a disciple of Jesus. You did not get here overnight. You got to where you are today because others took months and years, many conversations, many prayers, many corrections, a lot of patience in order to form us into the followers of Jesus that we are today. Look what Paul tells the Thessalonians: He says, And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

22:28In other words, no matter what category we Find people in, we are to be patient with all of them. Faithful discipling is patient. Second, faithful discipling is gentle. As we saw, Priscilla and Aquila were not rough with Apollos. They didn't rebuke him, and they certainly didn't rebuke him in front of everybody just because his understanding was incomplete. Instead, they took him aside, they went away privately together, and there they explained the way of God more accurately. Look again at what Paul writes to the Thessalonians.

23:05But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. That's how Paul described his ministry to the Thessalonians. Gentle, like a nursing mother. But, friends, that kind of discipleship has not been modeled well for us over the past couple of decades. We've had preachers and teachers yelling at us from the stage. We've had others talking down to us, their words dripping with condescension. We live in the midst of a culture where people can't even have a civil dialogue about any subject where there might be disagreement. We have not been discipled to be gentle by the church or the world.

24:00A contrast to Jesus, who described himself as gentle and lowly. Faithful discipling is gentle. And then, third and finally, faithful discipling is truthful. Sometimes we can be patient and gentle at the expense of truth. But not Priscilla and Aquila. They were patient and gentle, but they also held fast to the truth. They knew they had to correct Apollos' incomplete understanding by explaining the way of God more accurately. And by doing this, they were simply imitating Paul, the one who discipled them. Take a look at Acts chapter 20.

24:46Paul, as he's talking to the Ephesian elders, says, I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, in his ministry, Paul was always truthful. He told the truth even when it was hard, even when it resulted in opposition, even when it resulted in persecution.

25:24And so I think it's very important for us to remember that it is not love. It is selfishness and fear of rejection that keeps us from speaking the truth to others when they need to hear it. The lie is that we are loving others by not saying hard words to them. But in truth, we're only loving ourselves because we're afraid of what might happen if we do speak the truth. Through Apollos, we've seen the product. David, all things are supposed to be done decently and in order, brother. So if your machine has a word, it's going to have to wait.

26:21Through Apollos, we've seen the profile of a faithful disciple, enthusiastic, dependable, and teachable. Through Priscilla and Aquila, we've seen a picture of faithful discipling, gentle, patient, and truthful. So let's conclude now with the product of faithful discipling. Let's pick up in verse 27. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who, through grace, had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

27:02In these last two verses, we see the product of faithful discipling. And the product of faithful discipling is that Apollos was equipped, eager, and encouraged. First, faithful disciples are equipped. As a result of their faithful discipling, Apollos understood the way of God more accurately. He was equipped to preach the whole gospel and to obey everything that Jesus had commanded. And as we saw in his address to the Ephesian elders, Paul said that he was innocent of the blood of all because he did not shrink back from declaring the whole counsel of God. Priscilla and Aquila were equipped because Paul did that. He shared the whole counsel of God with them. And now we see that Apollos is able to powerfully refute the Jews in public because he has been equipped by Priscilla and Aquila to do the same thing, to declare the whole counsel of God. Because now he doesn't just have the Old Testament scriptures, he doesn't just have part of the story about Jesus, he has the full story. Whatever he was lacking before, he now has. He's equipped to be a disciple maker himself.

28:20In the same way, church, we want to ensure that those we disciple will be equipped as a result of our efforts. It's why on a large scale, We preach expositionally through books of the Bible. That's why we offer classes and give out books and train you to serve. Because we want you to be equipped for the work of ministry. And on a smaller scale, that's what every Christian is called to do: to make disciples by equipping believers with everything they need to make disciples themselves.

28:59Faithful disciples are equipped. Second, faithful disciples are eager. They're eager. We know that Apollos was always enthusiastic about Jesus, so there's no change in that. But after he's discipled by Priscilla and Aquila, he is eager to do even more for Christ. You notice in verse 27, he does not ask to go back home to Alexandria. Instead, he asks to go to a very difficult place, to the region of Achaia, where there are young churches that we know from the letters of 1 and 2 Corinthians are dealing with all kinds of problems. But he's so eager that he says, send me there. That's where I want to go.

29:45Church, if we're discipling faithfully, those we disciple will be marked by an eagerness to disciple others. Remember, the command is: go therefore and make disciples, not go therefore and be disciples. Disciples. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 2. Paul says, You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And what you have heard from me, in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

30:23So, if you've ever studied this passage before, you've seen that there are four generations there: Paul to Timothy, Timothy to faithful men, and faithful men who will be able to teach others also. That is the model for us, friends. We are called to equip faithful men and women who will be eager to disciple others. Faithful disciples are eager. And then, last, faithful disciples are encouraged. When Apollos wanted to minister elsewhere where he might have been even more useful, the believers did not discourage him from his big plans. Instead, they encouraged him. They urged him to go to attempt great things for God.

31:11And those were not empty words. They went to bat for him. They wrote a letter to the believers in Corinth urging them to welcome him. And Priscilla and Aquila, who ministered there for at least a year and a half, they put their names on that letter. I think so often young Christians. Walk away from conversations with older Christians discouraged because they've been told all the reasons that they can't do something, why they shouldn't do something, why it's not the right way.

31:46We need to remember the example of Barnabas, the great encourager that we looked at two weeks ago. Take a look again at Acts chapter 11. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. Barnabas's example is a great one to imitate. His ministry was a tremendous encouragement to those young Christians in Antioch. And, friends, that's what we want. We want the result of our discipling to be that believers are eager and equipped and encouraged.

32:28Brothers and sisters, this morning we've had the opportunity to see the profile of a faithful disciple, a picture of faithful discipling, and the product of faithful discipling. We have a better understanding of who we're looking for and what we're supposed to do and what results that we should hope and pray for. All that's left is to keep going or to get started. And I think that's where a lot of us. Are stuck. We know that we're called to make disciples, but we're intimidated and we don't know where to begin. So I want you to consider a few resources that we've made available in the lobby for you for free, and I hope that all of them get taken.

33:18The first is a little booklet that we wrote called Cultivate, Get Equipped, Make Disciples. It's a short primer with concrete suggestions for getting started in discipleship if you've never discipled anybody in your life. So pick that up if that's you. If you've been discipling, or if you'd just like words from a wiser person, this book by Mark Dever is called Discipling: How to Help Others Follow Jesus. It's more of a feature-length treatment on the topic that will give you more suggestions to get started, yes, but to keep going if you've been doing that for some time.

33:58But you might be in that category that I described before, and you've been thinking, How can I find someone to disciple me? I commend this book called How Can I Find Someone to Disciple Me? So, if that's you, pick this little blue book up, and it will give you instructions for that. Church, Jesus has commanded us to make disciples, and we are never going to be perfect at that. Do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. And remember that in the Great commission, some of the most encouraging words there are these: and behold, I am with you always to the very end of the age. Praise God, what a great encouragement.

34:46And if you're here today and you're not yet following Jesus, I hope that this sermon has raised some questions for you. Why in the world would these people spend an entire morning talking about how to help others follow a man who supposedly lived 2,000 years ago? What does that have to do with anything? Well, friends, you have to understand that Jesus did not come to start a new religion. Christianity is not a religion in the traditional sense. Jesus did not come to set up a new system of sacrifices, a new list of things to do, a new way to try harder, to do better, to hopefully end up right with God.

35:30Instead, he came and he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So he didn't come to give us a list of things to do. He came to do all that was necessary. He said, I didn't come to abolish the law. I came to fulfill it. That's why Jesus came. God had given us his perfect law, but every one of us had broken it time and time again in our lives.

36:00But not Jesus. He was tempted in every way, and yet was without sin. And he came and he laid down his life on the cross and took it up again on the third day, so that anyone who trusts in him, who repents of their sin and puts their faith in him and his finished work in his life, death, and resurrection, would be forgiven and adopted into his family and granted eternal life. And so, what Jesus is asking of you this morning is not try harder to become a better person.

36:33Jesus looks to you this morning and says, Come, follow me. And if you want to know how to do that, that's exactly why we're here. We're here to help you understand what it means to follow Jesus and to imitate us as we seek to imitate him. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for giving us. Godly examples to follow. People like Priscilla and Aquila, who showed Apollos the full truth, who modeled for us what it is to faithfully disciple others.

37:58And so, God, I pray this morning that those who are already engaged in the work of discipleship and discipling others, that they would be encouraged to press on. I have no doubt that there are many who sit there and think, I'm not qualified to do this. My life feels like it's a mess sometimes. My marriage isn't perfect. My parenting isn't perfect. I don't know the Bible forwards and backwards. God, would you encourage them today? Because we're not pointing to ourselves, we're pointing to you.

38:39And God, for those who are not yet following Jesus, we pray that you would meet them this morning, that you would call them to turn from their sin, to faith in Christ, and to begin following him, the good and perfect teacher, the good and perfect Savior. That they would look to him and him alone for reconciliation with you. Help us, God, to not only hear, but to obey all that we've heard this morning. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

39:18Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.